"Keyboard exercise,
consisting of an ARIA with diverse variations for harpsichord with two manuals.
Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits,
by Johann Sebastian Bach, composer for the royal court of Poland and the Electoral court of Saxony, Kapellmeister and Director of Choral Music in Leipzig. Nuremberg, Balthasar Schmid, publisher."

This work was composed for a two-manual harpsichord.
Variations 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 are specified in the score for two manuals,
while variations 5, 7 and 29 are specified as playable with either one or two.
With greater difficulty, the work can nevertheless be played on a single-manual harpsichord or piano.